Coral Snake Behavior and Biology

Unlike some thieves and criminals, Coral Snakes are scared of you. They will run like hell to get away. (I wish criminals did that!!) I saw a youngster Coral one time, and I have never seen in all my life a snake wiggle faster than that one. Every Coral I have seen makes a hasty retreat.

They, like Copperheads, will bite only if you mess with them, or step on them — just like we don’t mess with anyone else unless someone really comes after us. They are pretty much like us: “leave me alone, and I won’t have to defend myself.”

And they are less dangerous than some humans out there!! They, some humans, are the ones I am more scared of and worried about. A little snake I can look out for and stay away from. Some people won’t let avoidance be an option.

Watching for snakes while in the woods is a good practice: it trains you to be alert and aware, which helps us immensely when we drive or when we are in public. In public, we sometimes have to be on the alert for people who will do us harm. Some people let their guard down — or never develop a guard — because they never have to look out for any danger. Being “hyper-vigilant” about snakes helps us develop vigilance in general, which is a good thing, I think. Helps keep people out of or away from trouble. The practice helps us learn to relax and be at peace while still being very alert.

Snakes usually want to lie in the shade, enjoy the heat, soak up the sun, get a tan, get some Vitamin D production going, then go keep the population of mice and other such stuff under control so we don’t have outbreaks of mice-born disease or have mice infestations. They help protect us from environmental disaster.

Coral Snakes have small mouths, so they can bite you only like between the fingers or toes. And they have to chew for a while to get the venom in.

The venom of Corals is a neurotoxin; Copperheads use primarily a hemotoxin (which attacks muscle). Get bit bad by a Coral Snake, and you will die from organ shutdown and an attack on your nervous system. Get bit bad by a Copperhead, and you could have some muscle loss and be sick.

Coral Snake venom is slower to take effect. You have maybe 3-4 hours (depending on your weight, immune system function, health condition, etc.) before you feel the effects. So you have time to get to a hospital. Copperhead venom you will feel more immediately. The symptoms may vary. One thing you might feel is nausea, and you might find yourself throwing up

But, maybe you get a dry bite, and so all is OK.

Only maybe 40% (60%?) of snake bites are venomous. 60% (40%?) are “dry:” no venom is injected. The snake is being nice, and saying, like you honking your horn in traffic, “hey! watch out! I’m a little guy! I’m down here trying to keep the world safe for you!”

That is not from personal experience (I have no desire to do any experiments), but from what I have read.

Coral Snakes are also very secretive and shy. They are the opposite of a Honey Badger.

So just shoo them away or call someone to relocate them. If you have the time. Hell, we can do a some things, and we can do a lot, but we cannot do everything. Would be nice, but that ain’t how the world works.

Just be as good and nice as possible on this earth.